Cougars grab a pair of doubles wins in loss to No. 40 Texas Tech

EUGENE, Ore. – Friday night’s neutral match in Oregon between BYU men’s tennis and No. 40 Texas Tech went the way of the Red Raiders, who defeated the Cougars 4-1. BYU earned the doubles point after Brigham Andrus and Redd Owen won at the No. 3 court, adding to a Wally Thayne and Zach Fuchs victory at No. 2.

The Cougars (3-8, 1-0 WCC) had Fuchs and Jack Barnett looking to pick up singles victories in the third set of their matches, but both went unfinished once Texas Tech secured the dual match.

"We played excellent doubles today and fought hard in singles," said BYU head coach Dave Porter. "It was wonderful having Mateo Vereau back in action. Jack Barnett and Zach Fuchs were battling deep in the third and Wally Thayne’s match was even closer than the 7-6, 6-3 score indicates. We're looking forward to playing a strong Oregon team tomorrow."

FULL RESULTS

Doubles

1. No. 45 Dimitrios Azoidis/Reed Collier (TTU) def. Jack Barnett/Mateo Vereau (BYU) 6-4
2. Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. Piotr Pawlak/Franco Ribero (TTU) 7-5
3. Brigham Andrus/Redd Owen (BYU) def. Isaac Arevalo/Lorenzo Esquici (TTU) 7-6 (4)

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Barnett and Vereau battled the No. 45 team in the nation at No. 1 doubles, giving the Red Raider duo all they could handle before losing in a one-break set. The BYU pair is now 2-1 together this season after playing in the top spot for the first time.

No. 2 doubles was also close, with the two sides tied 5-5 late in the match until Thayne and Fuchs strung together two-straight games to take the 7-5 win. Texas Tech’s Pawlak and Ribero had won six of their last seven matches before Friday’s contest.

BYU locked up the doubles point at No. 3 doubles, which went to a tiebreaker after a 6-all tie. Andrus and Owen played together for the first time and ultimately registered a win with a 7-4 advantage in the tiebreaker.

Singles

1. Jack Barnett (BYU) vs. No. 123 Olle Wallin (TTU) 2-6, 6-3, unf.
2. Franco Ribero (TTU) def. Wally Thayne (BYU) 7-6 (3), 6-3
3. Isaac Arevalo (TTU) def. Mateo Vereau (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Zach Fuchs (BYU) vs. Reed Collier (TTU) 2-6, 6-4, unf.
5. Lorenzo Esquici (TTU) def. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Dimitrios Azoidis (TTU) def. Redd Owen (BYU) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 6, 5, 2

The Red Raiders surged ahead in singles, earning four-straight victories. Their first two were comfortable victories at the third and sixth spots. Vereau appeared in his first singles match since February 11 but fell 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 shortly before Owen lost 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6.

Jakovljevic had a closer match at No. 5 singles, only losing his first set 6-4. But Esquici would take control in the second, winning 6-1 to put Texas Tech up 3-1 in the dual match.

Texas Tech went on to clinch the dual match on the No. 2 court. Thayne nearly started off with a lead there, but Ribero won set one in a tiebreaker. The Red Raider then saw out the match with a 6-3 margin in the second.

Barnett and Fuchs were locked in tight third set matches that went unfinished after Texas Tech’s victory. Both lost the first set before rallying to take the second. Barnett made his first appearance at the No. 1 spot this season, where he faced nationally ranked No. 123 Wallin.

While Wallin had a comfortable 6-2 win in set one, Barnett took the momentum with a 6-3 victory in the second. Wallin then responded to take a slight 4-2 lead as the match reached its conclusion.

Fuchs also lost 6-2 in his first set before a BYU rally commenced again when he expanded a narrow 4-3 lead in the second into a 6-4 set win. Neither side had an advantage in set three, with Collier ahead 4-3 but Fuchs set to serve.

The Cougars remain in Eugene tomorrow for a match with No. 56 Oregon. That contest begins at 12:00 p.m. PDT and will be streamed live.